


Xenolinguistics

by laulan



Series: 30-300 [3]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Linguistics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-24 09:19:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laulan/pseuds/laulan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even linguists don't know everything there is to know about language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Xenolinguistics

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a project where I wrote one 300-word ficlet for each day in September.

“I was just trying to talk to him!” Gaila says, glaring up at Nyota.

Nyota blinks in surprise. Gaila’s eyes are green-rimmed and teary, and her makeup is a mess. “Hey,” she says gently, moving to sit next to Gaila on the bed. “Hey, hey, I’m sorry. I was only teasing. I’m sorry, Gaila.”

Gaila slumps back, head thumping against the headboard. “I know. I know! I’m just tired of this. I’ve gotten in trouble three times this week for things I didn’t even do. Or mean to do. Or--I don’t know. I’m not trying to get anyone worked up or anything! I don’t want to have sex with them.” She pauses, and admits, “Well, not all of them,” with a weaker shade of her usual bright smile.

It slips right off her face, though, and she sighs, digging her fingers into her hair. “It’s just how I talk. No one seems to get that,” she adds, quieter. “It’s not my fault their stupid physiology can’t handle it.”

The linguist in Nyota perks up. “Wait, you use the pheromones to talk?”

Gaila’s nose scrunches. “I thought you were supposed to know that stuff. Isn’t that what xenolinguistics is all about?”

“We don’t study nonverbal stuff until second semester. Ridiculous, I know.”

“That’s so stupid! Pheromones are really important. They’re like... you know the way you can tell if someone’s joking by the way they sound? We do that with pheromones, too. On Orion, I always know exactly what people mean. Here, everyone’s just flat. And I can never tell if people are lying.”

_Oh,_ thinks Nyota, heart aching. “I’m sorry,” she says, and means it. “I wish I could learn.”

It’s a stupid thing to say, but it makes Gaila smile a little anyway. Nyota can work with that.


End file.
